The City of Love (and Crepes)

After riding in a packed bus for 8 hours we arrived in Paris, France at six in the morning on Saturday. It was too early to check into our hotel, so we just dropped our bags off and decided to try to see the Eiffel Tower at sunrise. I think that being introduced to Paris just as everything and everyone was beginning to wake up for the day was the best way to see the city in all of its beauty. Without too many people or cars running around it was very easy to slowly take everything in. Our hotel ended up being quite a walk to the tower, so we didn’t make it just as the sun was rising, but we made it there just as the morning light was beginning to settle in for the day. The tower itself is quite a display of artistic design, but I do have to say I thought it would be a lot bigger. Surprisingly, it was easy to lose track of which direction the tower was in because it didn’t stick out over the buildings as much as you think it would.

After we took some prime photos we decided it would be best to find something to eat. We found a great café and had coffee, freshly baked croissants, some other type of freshly baked bread with jam, ham and eggs, and a glass of orange juice. It was quite delicious and I think we all fell in love after the first bite. After we ate we were all in great need of a shower and a nap (since the bus didn’t provide us with much sleeping), so we headed back to our hotel.

After we freshened up we set back out into the city to buy some snacks to enjoy as a light lunch. We decided on getting some fresh cheese, crackers, and a bottle of great French wine and took it all back to our hotel for a bedroom picnic. It was quite wonderful and felt good to let our feet relax after all the walking that we had done over a 24-hour time period. But, once the food was gone we were ready to begin walking again.

We got our cameras ready and put on our walking shoes and were on our way. We began at the Arc de Triomphe, and then walked to the Eiffel Tower for a second view. This time, we paid to go up into the tower to take pictures of the city from a different view. We had to choose to pay one price to stand in line for the elevator to get up and be at the top with lungs full of air, or pay half the price and walk the stairs to the second platform of the tower breathless. We decided to go for the half price so that we could spend more money on delicious food. Who’d have thought that all three of us would choose food over air? I think we were regretting the decision just a little after we climbed 669 steps (not including the small sets of stairs we climbed to get to the second floor of each platform). It might have been a good idea to pay for the elevator because the view itself was breathtaking. There really is nothing quite like seeing Paris in the fall. The colorful trees, the setting sun, we had the perfect timing for everything.

After we walked back down the same 669 steps, we decided to save our feet and take the metro to the Louvre. Luckily for us, we got in for free because we were students and under 26. We ended up spending three hours walking around looking at all the art and we still didn’t see everything. But we did get to see Mona Lisa, Venus du Milo, the statue of “Captive” by Michelangelo, Napoleon’s apartments (still furnished), and much, much more. It was the perfect ending to a perfect day full of sunshine and warm weather.

Saturday we got up early (once again) to get free breakfast and head out to see more great sights. We began our day at the Moulin Rouge (to visit the site of one of our favorite musicals) then went to the statue of Saint Michel (pronounced the same way as my own name!) which was right across from the famous Notre Dame. The cathedral was spectacular. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. The ceilings were amazing, the stained-glass windows were beautiful, and the statues along all of the walls were breathtaking.

After walking through Notre Dame we sought out a famous lover’s bridge that had hundreds of padlocks hooked to the chain-linked railing. Apparently couples from all around the world come to the bridge to lock a padlock onto the bridge and throw away the key over the edge to symbolize that their love is everlasting and cannot be undone. It was pretty neat to walk around and look at all of the engravings and names on all of the different locks. The bridge also looks over the Eiffel Tower, which makes for a very romantic image. It rained all day on Saturday and our pants and shoes were completely soaked, so after the bridge we decided to go back to the hotel to dry off and rest for awhile. So, we bought a crepe, which was absolutely amazing, and headed back “home.”

After drying off, resting, and changing our clothes, we went back out in the city to try to catch a view of the Eiffel Tower at night time. So, we walked down the famous Champs de L’Elysees where the stores of Chanel, Dolce and Gabbana, and Louis Vuitton are located. Jordan really wanted to find Louis Vuitton, but it was much harder than we thought it would be because it was located on a side street rather than along the Champs with everything else.

We had given up hope of finding it at night and began to walk back in the direction of our hotel. We came to a corner and looked up to find the Eiffel Tower sparkling. Not just lit up for the night, but actually twinkling. We had heard that it happened, but we hadn’t been able to see it each time we passed it at night. Apparently it only occurs for a few minutes every hour. We made it just in time and the clouds broke for the few minutes that it sparkled so that we were able to get the full view of the tower twinkling. It was very beautiful. Almost as soon as the lights appeared, they were gone again, so we turned to continue to head back to the hotel. As soon as we rounded the corner the Louis Vuitton store was right in front of us, so we got to take some pictures of it after all.

Everything that happened in the full two days that we were in Paris seemed to perfectly play out in one way or another and made us all fall in love with the City of Love. It was a perfect weekend full of lasting memories and wonderful time spent with amazing and dearly loved friends.